


Sparkling Gold

by Aces_and_Roses



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Homesickness, Nail Polish, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 10:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20191120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aces_and_Roses/pseuds/Aces_and_Roses
Summary: Hamid didn’t know exactly what he had expected to see when he opened the door to his apartment that day. It could have been any number of things: a delivery for something he didn’t remember ordering, one of his new university friends coming to say hello, Gideon or Liliana, or even just a case of a mistaken address. What he actually saw was none of those things.





	Sparkling Gold

**Author's Note:**

> For the silent ways to say I love you prompt: Travelling long distances just to see them

Hamid didn’t know exactly what he had expected to see when he opened the door to his apartment that day. It could have been any number of things: a delivery for something he didn’t remember ordering, one of his new university friends coming to say hello, Gideon or Liliana, or even just a case of a mistaken address.

What he actually saw was none of those things. Instead, standing just across the threshold, he saw Saira, clutching a small box and smiling nervously at him (Saira was never nervous, what was going on?). “Hey, Hamid. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She held the box out towards him, her smile growing lopsided as she did. “If I am, I, uh, brought something to make up for it.” She sounded hesitant, unsure, and _gods_ had Hamid missed her (he hadn’t even been at university for two months and he was already homesick. This wasn’t even the first time he’d been away from Cairo for an extended period of time; he went to boarding school for gods’ sake. How pathetic was he?).

_The moment Hamid opened the door, Saira enveloped him in a hug, burying her face in his hair. “Saira! What- what are you doing here?” he asked, his voice muffled into her shoulder._

_She pulled back slightly, just enough to look him in the eye. “Dad had to come to London for work, so I came with him. I’ve missed you. I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!”_

_“It’s only been three months, Saira. Besides, I thought you said you were gonna be happy to be rid of me.” Hamid grinned despite himself, he’d missed her too. He’d missed her _so much_._

_Saira at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish at the reminder. “Yeah, well, whatever. I’m here now.” Suddenly, she pulled backward, releasing Hamid from her grip. “Oh! I almost forgot, I brought you something!” She bent down to rummage through the bag she’d dropped on the floor (which Hamid hadn’t even noticed until just then), pulling out a small paper bag, which she promptly held out to Hamid. “C’mon, then-”_

“-take it.” So he did, carefully taking the box from Saira’s grip.

He abruptly realized that they were still standing in the open doorway and moved back to gesture Saira into the apartment_._ “Sorry, come in, make yourself at home,” he said, closing the door behind her. “So… What are you doing here?”

Saira sat down on the couch, resting her elbows on her knees as she examined him. “I missed you.”

Hamid leveled her with an unimpressed look, sitting down next to her, still cradling the box in his hands. “And?”

“That’s not enough of a reason?” He simply raised his eyebrows, and she sighed, deflating. “And our parents said you were… having a difficult time adjusting. They didn’t ask me to come, for the record. I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

Hamid dropped his gaze to the floor, abruptly finding it rather difficult to bear the weight of Saira’s eyes on him. “I’m fine, Saira.”

She huffed out a breath, clearly not convinced in the least, but let the subject drop. Instead, she gestured to the box. “Well, aren’t you going-”

_“-to open it? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that you don’t want it.” Hamid just narrowed his eyes at her, making no move to open the bag. “Well, I guess I just have to take it back then,” she said in a sing-song, reaching out to grab it._

_Hamid hugged it to his chest, backing up to get out of her reach. She followed him forward, into the room, making a show of grabbing for the bag again. “No, I do, just give me a second.”_

_Saira finally stopped, raising her hands in a placating gesture. “Fine, fine. Hurry up and open it, already.”_

_Hamid did, reaching into the bag and pulling out a bottle of nail polish, sparkly and gold, the exact same one that-_

-she’d gotten him when she’d visited before, back when he’d been in boarding school. The one he’d been obsessed with for months beforehand, but his parents had always refused to buy for him. He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he stared down at the bottle, a quiet “O-oh,” falling from his lips. “Saira…” he looked up at her and she looked back, straightening up from her previous stooped position and holding out her arms. He tilted toward her, falling into them and burying his face in her shoulder. “Saira, I-” He was cut off as a sob tore its way out of his chest, the tears in his eyes finally spilling over, soaking into her shirt.

Saira wrapped her arms around him, stroking soothingly up and down his back. “Shh, shh, I know. It’s okay.”

“I-It’s…” He took a breath, trying valiantly to steady himself and failing utterly. “It’s not okay, I’m not okay, Saira.”

She let him cry himself out, silently holding him and rubbing his back gently until, what felt like an eternity later, his sobs slowed to a stop, leaving only hiccuping breaths and smeared eyeliner as proof they had ever been there in the first place. He pulled back, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry about your shirt,” he said, gesturing to the wet black marks he’d left behind on the fabric over her shoulder.

She just shrugged. “It’s fine.” She hesitated for a moment, biting her lip consideringly before speaking again. “You’re more important to me than a shirt.”

Hamid gave her a watery smile. “Thank you. For the nail polish. And for-”

_“- being here. I- I’ve-”_

“- missed you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at redactedquill if anyone wants to shoot me a prompt!


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